New Delhi, Jul 27 (PTI): India understood the importance of family planning early and was the first country to launch a national family planning programme in 1952, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said on Wednesday.
Chairing the national family planning summit, 2022, she highlighted that India is an important member of the FP2020, which has now transitioned to FP2030, and as part of its commitment to this partnership, USD 3 billion has been invested in family planning.
Family Planning (FP) 2030 is the successor to FP2020, a global initiative for family planning providing a space for stakeholders to convene, align, share knowledge, broker resources, and advance the field.
At the summit themed ‘Sustaining efforts, Steering Partnerships, Shaping Vision in Family Planning – Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas and Sabka Vikas’, She stated that “between 2012 and 2020, India added over 1.5 crore additional users for modern contraceptives thereby increasing the modern contraceptive use substantially”.
“India has achieved replacement level fertility, with 31 states and Union Territories having achieved a total fertility rate of 2.1 or less,” she said.
At the event, the minister unveiled the India Family Planning 2030 vision document and launched the Medical Eligibility Criteria Wheel Application, e-Module of Family Planning Logistics Management System and digital archive on family planning.
Pawar also introduced the National Family Planning helpline manual, Community Health Officer booklet, and ASHA brochure and leaflet (family planning).
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the family planning programme in India is over seven decades old during which India witnessed a paradigm shift from the concept of population control to population stabilisation to interventions being embedded towards ensuring harmony of continuum care, according to a statement.
In this context, he said that although India has achieved replacement level fertility, there is still a significant population in the reproductive age group who must remain at the centre of intervention efforts.
Also, India’s focus has traditionally been on the supply side, that is the providers and delivery systems. The time is now to focus on the demand side which includes family, community and society, he said.
“Significant change is possible with this focus, instead of an incremental change,” the health secretary said.